Head of Design (Product)

Key Responsibilities

1. Design Strategy & Leadership

• Define and establish the overall product design vision and strategy in alignment with company and product goals.

• Translate business objectives, customer needs, and product strategy into clear design priorities.

• Establish design principles, standards, and processes across the organisation.

• Champion user-centered design and ensure customer insights are incorporated into product decisions.

• Drive a consistent and high-quality user experience across products and platforms.

• Represent the Product Design function in senior leadership and strategic product discussions.

2. Product Design & User Experience

• Oversee the end-to-end design process for AI-first learning and teaching products, from research and discovery through to concept development, prototyping, testing, and implementation.

• Ensure products are intuitive, accessible, scalable, and visually consistent.

• Work with Product and Engineering leaders to identify opportunities for improving customer experience and product usability.

• Review and provide strategic direction on major product initiatives and design decisions.

• Balance user needs, business objectives, technical constraints, and product priorities when making design decisions.

• Establish and maintain high standards for UX and UI quality.

3. Design Systems & Processes

• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve the company's design system and design standards.

• Ensure consistency across products, features, and user touchpoints.

• Improve design workflows and collaboration processes between Design, Product, and Engineering.

• Introduce appropriate design methodologies, tools, and frameworks to improve efficiency and quality.

• Establish processes for design reviews, usability testing, research, and design validation.

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering leadership throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Collaborate with Product Managers to define problems, opportunities, and product requirements.

• Work with Engineering teams to ensure design concepts are feasible and implemented to the intended quality.

• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and other teams to ensure a consistent customer experience.

• Facilitate alignment and decision-making across teams when there are competing user, business, or technical priorities.

5. Customer & Data-Driven Design

• Promote the use of customer research, usability testing, analytics, and other data to inform design decisions.

• Develop a deep understanding of customer behaviours, needs, and pain points.

• Establish mechanisms to measure and evaluate the impact of design improvements.

• Use qualitative and quantitative insights to continuously improve product experiences.

6. Design Innovation

• Stay current with emerging UX, product design, technology, and industry trends.

• Identify opportunities to introduce new approaches, tools, and technologies that improve the customer experience.

• Encourage experimentation and rapid validation of new ideas.

• Explore the appropriate use of AI and emerging technologies to improve design processes and product experiences.

  Key Performance Indicators

  Success in this role may be measured through:

  • Improvement in customer satisfaction, usability, and product experience metrics.

  • Achievement of product and design objectives aligned with company strategy.

  • Quality and consistency of product design across platforms.

  • Adoption and effectiveness of the design system.

  • Design delivery efficiency and collaboration with Product and Engineering.

  • Successful development, engagement, and retention of the Product Design team.

  • Improvement in product adoption, engagement, conversion, retention, or other relevant product metrics.

  • Successful delivery of major product initiatives with strong user and business outcomes.

    Requirements

    • 10+ years of experience in Product Design, UX/UI Design, or a related field.

    • Significant experience leading and managing Product/UX Design teams.

    • Proven experience working in a technology, SaaS, digital product, or fast-paced product environment.

    • Strong understanding of user-centered design, UX research, interaction design, visual design, and product development.

    • Demonstrated ability to develop and execute a product design strategy.

    • Strong experience collaborating with Product and Engineering leadership.

    • Experience building or managing a design system and scalable design processes.

    • Strong portfolio demonstrating successful product design work and measurable user or business impact.

    • Excellent communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.

    • Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to remain hands-on when required.

    • Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous, and highly collaborative environment.